United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-086
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
\>EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Concord, NC
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Concord for a
Brownfields Pilot. Concord was also selected to
receive additional funding for assessments at
Brownfields properties to be used for greenspace
purposes. Concord (population 27,347) is a rapidly
growing and economically diverse piedmont
community. Historically, North Carolina piedmont
communities were home to numerous textile
manufacturing facilities and mills; however, these
once prosperous mills have become dilapidated
reminders of bygone days and have hindered
development within the center city area of Concord
(population 14,783) and led to urban sprawl. Urban
sprawl has consequently resulted in higher
infrastructure costs, greatertraffic congestion, higher
unemployment (5.6 percent) and a greater poverty
rate (17.5 percent) in the center city, and decreased
housing opportunities for lower-income residents.
Fear and ignorance of contaminants and cleanup
costs have prevented brownfields within the city from
being redeveloped. Concord will target city-owned
sites—Gibson Village, North Village, and Memorial
Farmers Market—for cleanup and reuse. Gibson
Village, an urban neighborhood, has a heavy
concentration of mills, coal yards, and other potential
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Concord, NC
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The City of Concord
targets three sites—Gibson
Village, North Village,
Memorial Farmers Market—
and a fourth site located within
Gibson Village, the former
electrical warehouse, for
greenway development.
Contacts:
City of Concord
(704)789-2502
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404)562-8661
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields newsand events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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brownfields sites. Also located within Gibson Village
is a city-owned electrical warehouse property that
will be targeted as part of the city's greenspace
development plan. North Village is an abandoned
National Guard Armory motor park. Memorial
Farmers Market is an abandoned city maintenance
facility that is adjacent to an area marked by an
overwhelming minority presence and high
unemployment.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the city is to create and demonstrate a
successful brownfields program using city-owned
property, serving as a model for cleanup and
redevelopment and encouraging private property
owners to enroll their property into the brownfields
program. After the Pilot-funded assessments and
cleanup planning, the city plans to clean up and
redevelop the Gibson Village site into a community
park and greenway link, the abandoned National
Guard Armory motor park into an 18-unitneo-traditional
affordable subdivision, and the abandoned city
maintenance facility into a market that sells produce
and gardening supplies.
The city will use the greenspace funding for
assessment and planning at the city-owned electrical
warehouse property, which is bordered by a creek
and located in Gibson Village. These efforts will
complement the city' s planned greenway proj ect, as
many of the planned greenways cut through the
targeted communities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Assessing and characterizing three city-owned
brownfields;
• Creating a thorough and organized community
involvement program;
• Involving private land owners and developing public-
private partnerships to enroll private property into
the brownfields program;
• Providing cleanup and reuse planning forthe targeted
sites, including identifying strategies for providing
liability protection to aid in redevelopment; and
• Conducting assessmentand cleanup planning at the
former electrical warehouse to facilitate creating
and protecting greenspace.
The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subjectto change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
May2000
Concord, NC
EPA 500-F-00-086
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